Feline Senate Candidate Scratched by Catty Attack Ad

What do we really know about Hank?

By David Gianatasio on March 5, 2012

The race to fill the U.S. Senate seat in Virginia being vacated by Jim Webb is turning into a real catfight. Meet Hank,[1] a bona fide feline, whose candidacy includes a patriotic video (with 150,000 YouTube views so far) and a Facebook page.[2] Matt O'Leary, one of Hank's owners, says he put his pet in the running to "let off some steam" and counter the "negative and vitriolic" nature of modern political campaigning. Vitriol—albeit of the tongue-in-cheek variety—oozes from this anti-Hank attack clip produced by something called the Canines for a Feline Free Tomorrow superPAC. It demands "more facts, not fat cats" as it questions Hank's credibility: "He says he's gone to the vet. But there is no record of him serving in any military branch." Yeah, with stories like this, it's impossible to neuter the catty wordplay. The Hank saga is mildly amusing, but the Republican presidential field makes for better political satire. What a bunch of dogs.